2025 Best Mental & Social Health Services Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

Ranked #16 in popularity, mental & social health services is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 27 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Mental & Social Health Services Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,578 master's degrees in mental & social health services during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Mental & Social Health Services School for Your Master's Degree

The mental health services master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality mental health services program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we include a college's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on mental & social health services students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other mental & social health services students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How much debt mental & social health services students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized mental & social health services related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for mental & social health services students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Mental & Social Health Services Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Mental & Social Health Services in the Southwest Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in mental & social health services.

10 Top Southwest Region Schools for a Master's in Mental Health Services

1

Grand Canyon University
Phoenix, AZ

1,043 Annual Graduates

$48,673 Median Starting Salary

Grand Canyon University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in mental & social health services. Grand Canyon University is a very large private for-profit university located in the large city of Phoenix.

After graduating, mental health services master's recipients usually make about $48,673 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in mental & social health services from Grand Canyon University

2

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Houston, TX

21 Annual Graduates

$73,181 Median Starting Salary

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in mental & social health services. Located in the city of Houston, UTHealth is a public university with a moderately-sized student population.

Master's recipients from the mental & social health services degree program at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston get $24,902 above the typical college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in mental & social health services from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

3

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Lubbock, TX

48 Annual Graduates

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center is a wonderful option for students pursuing a master's degree in mental & social health services. TTUHSC is a small public university located in the city of Lubbock.More information about a master’s in mental & social health services from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

4

University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ

43 Annual Graduates

$48,361 Median Starting Salary

University of Arizona is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in mental & social health services. University of Arizona is a very large public university located in the city of Tucson.

Master's students who receive their degree from the mental health services program make an average of $48,361 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in mental & social health services from University of Arizona

5

University of Phoenix - Arizona
Phoenix, AZ

192 Annual Graduates

$58,837 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Phoenix, UOPX - Arizona is a private for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Those mental & social health services students who get their master's degree from University of Phoenix - Arizona make $10,558 more than the standard mental health services graduate.

More information about a master’s in mental & social health services from University of Phoenix - Arizona

6

New Mexico Highlands University
Las Vegas, NM

140 Annual Graduates

$50,653 Median Starting Salary

Located in the town of Las Vegas, New Mexico Highlands University is a public university with a small student population.

Master's recipients from the mental & social health services program at New Mexico Highlands University make $2,374 more than the average college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a master’s in mental & social health services from New Mexico Highlands University

7

Texas Woman's University
Denton, TX

71 Annual Graduates

$47,141 Median Starting Salary

TWU is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Denton.

Soon after graduating, mental health services master's recipients typically earn about $47,141 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in mental & social health services from Texas Woman’s University

8

University of St. Thomas
Houston, TX

31 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Houston, UST is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a master’s in mental & social health services from University of St. Thomas

9

Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ

50 Annual Graduates

NAU is a very large public university located in the small city of Flagstaff.More information about a master’s in mental & social health services from Northern Arizona University

10

Houston Baptist University
Houston, TX

84 Annual Graduates

$34,087 Median Starting Salary

HBU is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Houston.

Students who graduate with their master's from the mental health services program state that they receive average early career earnings of $34,087.

More information about a master’s in mental & social health services from Houston Baptist University

Best Mental & Social Health Services Colleges by State

Explore the best mental & social health services schools for a specific state in the Southwest Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Texas	235	777
Arizona	180	1,351
Oklahoma	153	35
New Mexico	114	160

View All Rankings >

Mental & Social Health Services Related Rankings by Major

Mental & Social Health Services is one of 34 different types of Health Professions programs to choose from.

Mental Health Services Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Mental Health Counseling/Counselor	1,559
Other Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions	294
Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling	267
Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling	226
Clinical/Medical Social Work	140
Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling	60
Genetic Counseling/Counselor	28
Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling	4

Majors Similar to Mental Health Services

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Nursing	5,560
Health & Medical Administrative Services	2,288
Public Health	1,303
Communication Sciences	1,265
Allied Health Professions	1,205
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	495
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	411
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	245
Health Sciences & Services	179
Medical Illustration & Informatics	120

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard). More about our data sources and methodologies.